trapped
by envysparkler
Summary: Kidnapped, disoriented, and far from safety, her only hope is the boy who just broke her heart. - Aki/Ichinose.


**a/n:** request fic for **Shiranai Atsune**, yet again! This one will be slightly darker, however…

**dedication: **to sleep.

**disclaimer:** i don't own anything.

**summary:** Kidnapped, disoriented and far from safety, her only hope is the boy who just broke her heart. – Aki/Ichinose.

* * *

**trapped**

_no plan ever survives contact with the enemy_

* * *

He was waking up.

Aki was still undecided as to whether this was a good thing or not – she had spent the last ten minutes alternating between cursing, banging on the walls, and trying to shake Ichinose awake. Her ex-boyfriend was company, but an altogether discomforting presence, considering the fact that he was breaking up with her the last time she saw his face.

"Argh…gah…what?" She could hear Ichinose slowly come to, groaning, "My _head_…wah? Why is it – Aki?"

"Yes?" she asked primly, as if Ichinose wasn't struggling to sit up in the pitch dark metal container they were trapped in and she wasn't far away from him – well, as far as she could get in the 3x3x3 metal box.

"What the hell?" Ichinose grunted as he hit his head on the roof of the box, "Aki, what's going on?"

"We've been kidnapped," Aki said calmly – perhaps too calmly, but a childhood spent in the presence of Endou had given her the ability to suppress her fear and panic in favor of dealing with the situation at hand.

"Kidnapped?" Ichinose's tone was one of disbelief, "Aki, where are you?" There were muffled clanks as Ichinose searched around in the darkness.

"Here," she said, letting annoyance enter her voice, tapping her fingers on the leg next to her. There was silence for a moment before Ichinose's hand found hers, his callused fingers brushing her hand before swiftly retreating.

Aki swallowed thickly past the lump in her throat.

"Where are we?" Ichinose asked, his voice disembodied in the darkness, "Who kidnapped us?"

"We're in a box, _baka_," Aki snorted, "And I have no idea who kidnapped us. I woke up only ten minutes ago."

There was a moment of silence before Ichinose spoke up again, this time his tone calm and serious, as if they both weren't crammed inside the tiny box, barely able to move. "Alright, we're been kidnapped and we're in a metal box of…"

"Three feet by three feet by three feet," Aki answered sullenly, "Approximately."

"Okay. That doesn't give us much room to work with," he mused, "And we have no idea who are captors are. Well, we'll find out eventually –"

"Who says we will?" Aki challenged, desperate for anything that would help her ignore the fact that she couldn't see or move, "What if they're going to leave us here to die?"

"That seems like an awful lot of effort to put into someone's death," Ichinose stated, matter-of-fact, "And I can feel air holes, so we won't die of lack of oxygen. The only thing left is to leave us in here for a few days and let us die of dehydration and even that isn't a precise death. No, if they wanted to kill us, we'd be dead."

"So what do they want?" Aki said, bending her knees to hug them to her chest. It had only been ten minutes and already the position was beginning to get uncomfortable.

"If they kidnapped us, it's probably for money," Ichinose reasoned, muffling a groan as he shifted, "What's the last thing you remember?"

"You breaking up with me," Aki informed him, hastily wiping away the one tear that streaked down her cheek. She had more important things to worry about than the break-up. Right now, her most important priority was getting out of here alive.

"Right," Ichinose said after an awkward silence, "Well, they obviously knocked us out with a blow to the head –"

"Which explains the massive headache and the lump at the base of my skull," Aki muttered.

"And locked us in here. How long do you think it's been?" Ichinose asked politely. It seemed like he, too, was feeling the awkward tension in the air.

"Dinnertime," Aki said after a thoughtful pause, "Which means that it's been about four hours."

"They could've taken us anywhere in four hours," Ichinose groaned, moving again. Aki stiffened when one of his legs brushed hers. Ichinose didn't seem to notice, but the tension thickened when Aki deliberately moved her leg away, huddling in her side of the box.

"So we're waiting until our kidnappers decide to make a move?" Aki asked, fighting back the urge to cry and hoping that her voice wouldn't crack.

"Yes."

"While we're waiting, why don't we resume our conversation?" Aki could no longer fight back the tears streaming down her cheeks, "You know, the one where you were listing all the reasons I'm a horrible girlfriend?"

"Aki…"

"No, do continue," Aki said viciously, even though her throat was locking up and her nose was running.

"Aki, this isn't the time, okay?" Ichinose murmured.

"On the contrary," Aki said, glaring through the darkness even though she couldn't see him, "We have all the time in the world."

There was silence for a few minutes before Ichinose figured out that she wasn't going to relent.

"Aki, I told you, we were drifting apart," Ichinose sighed, "And I'm moving to the States next year and you're staying here and I don't know, Aki, it just doesn't seem _right_ anymore, you know what I mean? We started dating because of a _dare_, it was never meant to last, it just…"

"You don't love me anymore," Aki said flatly, feeling numb, "Or you never loved me."

"Aki…" Ichinose let his voice trail off but it was all the answer she needed.

"Fine," Aki said grimly, "_Fine_. We'll just find a way out of here and we'll never have to see each other again. You can waltz off to the U.S. and find some American girl and I'll go off and find my true love, or whatever."

She didn't mention that Ichinose _was_ her true love. She had loved him since they were kids, but was too afraid to do anything about it. When the dare came up, she took it as her chance to finally have the boy she dreamt about. And she had honestly thought Ichinose had loved her in return, thought that their relationship didn't need to be defined, thought that the expressive looks were enough.

She hadn't even noticed something was wrong until he asked to talk to her that afternoon.

Aki inwardly snorted – how stupid was she, that she didn't realize that he was breaking up with her _until he actually broke up with her_?

"Let's just find a way out of here," Ichinose suggested, clearly as discomforted by the situation as she was, "Then we can talk more."

"So you'll break up with me _properly_, this time?" Aki muttered, but did as he asked. She felt along the sides of the metal, hearing Ichinose do the same on his end. Beside the rough grooves of the air holes, she couldn't find anything. No split, no seam, _nothing_ – just like when she searched before he woke up.

"There's something off about this box," Ichinose murmured, still going over it, shifting painfully in order to get to every corner.

"You're telling me?" Aki snorted, "How many people have metal boxes with air holes just waiting for kidnapping victims?"

"No, there's something else…these air holes…" She could practically _hear_ his eyebrows furrowing, as they did every time Ichinose came across a problem he couldn't solve, "Do you notice anything weird about them?"

"Nope," Aki said, tilting her head at an angle that hurt her neck, "They're just holes." She squinted at them but it didn't change anything – she could still feel the holes in front of her, but she couldn't see them. It was frightening, the complete and utter lack of light, the loss of the sense she relied on the most.

Aki pushed herself back into a sitting position, grimacing as her head complained at the sudden movement. Her back was aching from remaining slouched over and so Aki bent forward, trying to release the tension coiled in her spine.

She had an epiphany.

"The light," Aki breathed out, struck by the sheer _obviousness_ of the sudden idea, "Ichinose, _the light_! That's what's wrong!"

"The light?" Ichinose sounded skeptical, "What are you talking about?"

But Aki was too excited to pay attention. Contorting back to the uncomfortable position, she looked through the air holes again – nothing. "Ichinose, there's no light!" she almost shouted in happiness.

"Either explain what you're talking about, or shut up, Aki, you're aggravating my headache," Ichinose snapped back, sounding distinctly displeased.

Aki frowned in his general direction, "I don't know why your puny mind can't grasp a simple concept – there's no _light_, Ichinose!"

"Surprisingly enough, I managed to deduce that all on my own," Ichinose drawled, "I don't even know why I bother asking – you never explain _anything_."

"Excuse me?" Aki's voice rose in pitch as she stared, shocked, "What do you mean, _I don't explain anything_?"

"I don't know why your puny mind can't grasp a simple concept," Ichinose mocked, "You don't explain anything, Aki, you just go off on a random tangent or look at me and expect me to understand what's going on in your head!"

"What – wait, you mean you've never understood my looks?" Aki asked, stunned. All this time and Ichinose had never…

"Of course not!" Ichinose retorted, "I'm not a mind reader! _This_ is exactly why I said we're not meant to be – you always assume I know everything and I _don't_!"

"Well then, why didn't you _say_ something?" Aki had run out of shock and was moving into anger, "You can't just blame our relationship on _me_! You're the one that kept quiet about this! I thought you understood, that's why I didn't explain anything!"

"Oh, so now you're saying that we had all those problems due to miscommunication?" Ichinose laughed, "Yeah, right – we dated for two years, I think we'd notice something like that."

"Up until four hours ago, I didn't even know we _had_ a problem!"

"How?" Ichinose spluttered, "After everything, after all the fights – how could you not see it coming?"

"_What_ fights?" Aki almost screamed in exasperation, "The only things we fought about were the flavors of ice cream we wanted to buy!"

"I can't be in a relationship with someone who never lets me choose the ice cream flavor!" Ichinose shouted back.

There was a ringing silence after his words, one broken by Aki's snickers.

"That sounded way better in my head," Ichinose conceded.

"Wow," Aki deadpanned, "I totally see why you're breaking up with me. Must've been one vanilla cone too many."

"Shut up," Ichinose sighed, realizing how stupid his arguments sounded when he voiced them out loud, "You knew I liked chocolate."

"We could've just bought two separate cones, you know," Aki pointed out, "If it really pissed you off that much."

Ichinose opened his mouth, ready to spout a half-formed argument that it was a waste of money when the sound of a creaking door reached them. There was the noise of multiple people whispering and the click of a switch. Instantly, light began streaming through the air holes, letting them see for the first time since they woke up.

"Now I see what you meant," Ichinose murmured, "There was no light."

"Shush," Aki muttered, her features half-illuminated in the gloom, "Pretend to still be out. I don't know what they want with us." Ichinose complied, slumping against one side of the box while Aki rested her head on the opposite wall. He kept his eyes open, though, looking at Aki's rumpled school uniform, her messy hair, the shallow cut on her face and feeling a pang of protectiveness, a flush of anger against the people who did this to her.

The muttering grew louder as the footsteps neared. Ichinose tried to distinguish the people apart – maybe four? Five? Too many to fight off, that's for sure.

"Think they're awake?" a gruff voice asked as something clanked on the metal.

"Kuroda hit them pretty hard," another man laughed, "Probably out like a light."

There was the sound of a key clicking inside a lock before the top of the box was lifted up. Ichinose was inwardly glad his eyes were closed – the sudden light exposure hit him like a truck, painfully lighting up his eyelids and increasing his throbbing headache. The lid clanked on the other side and Ichinose tried to remain perfectly still, breathing evenly as figures blotted out the light.

"Mmm, she is a pretty one," a voice said and Ichinose fought to control the white-hot anger that rushed through his veins. Instead, he opened his eyes a fraction, catching a glimpses of the men that had kidnapped them and committing it to memory.

"Creamy skin and that fucking adorable uniform," another man chuckled, and it was all Ichinose could do to remain still and not rip the man's head off. Instead he forced himself to watch through his slitted eyes as a rough hand trailed up Aki's leg, squeezing her thigh where her skirt ended.

"Think we can have her when everything's done, Ran?" one of them said.

"Sure, Kenji," another laughed, "We can even make the boy watch." There was a round of chuckles at this but Ichinose remained limp, watching Aki's fists clench even as her chest rose and fell in steady breathing.

"So are we keeping them in here or what, Hikaru?" someone asked, "We already called their parents and they might as well entertain us while we're waiting for that ransom…"

"No, we're keeping them in here. They can entertain us when they wake up and find themselves locked in a metal box," a man laughed, the rest joining in. There was the creak of metal and the light was mercifully removed from Ichinose's eyes as the lid was closed, the lock snapping shut.

Ichinose heard Aki's shuddering breaths as soon as the metal box was closed and reached out to her, seeing her shaking figure in the dim light the air holes provided. "Aki…" he whispered, wrapping his hand around her elbow. She was terrified, and for once, Ichinose didn't know what he could do to help.

Aki turned to him, stretching a trembling hand towards him and Ichinose leaned forward, enveloping her in a hug as he whispered reassurances in her ears.

"Shush, Aki," he stroked her hair softly as she quietly sobbed in his arms, "Shush, it'll be okay. I'll find a way out of here, I promise. Okay, Aki? I swear on my life I'll get you out."

"_Baka_," Aki's voice was muffled by his blazer, "You always make promises you can't keep."

"But not this time, Aki-chii," Ichinose held her tightly, "This time you can trust me, okay?" He didn't let her go until she stopped shaking and her breathing evened out. Leaning back, he scrutinized her face, seeing the wet sheen of tears even in the half-light.

"What do we have to do?" Aki whispered.

"Firstly, we need a plan," Ichinose took a deep breath and calmed himself – if he just ignored the part that he was kidnapped and trapped in a metal box with four people outside who would not hesitate to hurt him, he could focus on finding a way out of their predicament.

And to think, the only nerve-wracking thing he had planned on doing today was breaking up with Aki.

"That's it," Ichinose breathed out, "Plan. They planned this. They had a metal box with air holes, they called our parents – this wasn't a spur of the moment kidnapping. This was planned and it was specific. If there are four people, then they have to split the ransom four ways – that would lead to problems, but it hasn't. So something else is going on…this isn't the first kidnapping they've done."

"They're not scared," Aki murmured and he looked at her, wondering what she was talking about. She shot a glance at his confused expression and flushed, remembering their earlier argument. "They're very calm for people who've broken the law. Confident, too. They think they can get away with this," she explained.

Ichinose smiled, "And we can turn that against them, just like we do in football. Turn the opponent's strengths into weaknesses and you've won the game."

Aki smiled faintly, "So now all we have to do is think of this like just another football game."

Ichinose grinned, "Play to your strengths. Now, there are supposedly four of them. I don't think there'll be more – kidnapping for money is generally not a high-end operation, especially for two random kids off the street. There are two of us. They are stronger, and more physically fit. We are hungry, thirsty, have crippling headaches –"

"And your foot, Ichinose." Ichinose blinked at her, shocked. Aki frowned at him, "Don't think I didn't notice, Ichinose, you groan every time you move your foot. It's sprained."

"Alright, I have a sprained ankle," Ichinose glowered in her direction, "Also, if we get out of this box, we're going to be blinded by the light."

"No cellphones either," Aki said morosely, "No way to call for help."

"They must have a phone," Ichinose reasoned, "But we need to get out of this box."

"I don't see them leaving," Aki said, "They're waiting for us to 'wake up'. We need to think up something, and _soon_."

"The only way we're getting out of this box is if they let us out," Ichinose groaned softly, slumping back.

_Think of it like a football game? Thing is, in football you don't have to worry if your opponent's going to knife you,_ Ichinose thought resignedly. His mind began flicking over the plays they had practiced earlier that day, before that fateful break-up and everything that followed.

"Wait a minute," he sat bolt upright, stopping just short of smashing his forehead with the top. Aki looked at him, raising a curious eyebrow.

"The Illusion trap," Ichinose remembered one of Kidou's rather brilliant plays, "Show them what they want to see." He grinned at Aki, "How good of an actress are you?"

* * *

Sure enough, the two kids woke up and began screaming, shouting out pleas for help and banging on the sides of the box. They let them stew in there for a minute, listening to the girl sink into hysteria as the boy tried to keep it together. It _was_ rather entertaining but he wanted more action.

This was the sixth group of kids he'd kidnapped as part of this four-man group and each time, they ended with a different twist. It had become so integral that the money almost didn't matter anymore – only who could come up with the most sick, sadistic method of letting the kids go.

"Ready, guys?" Kuroda gave them all a wicked smile before unlocking the lid and throwing the box open. He could see the kids stop shouting and scrunch up their eyes against the sudden, harsh light, moaning in pain.

Ran waited until their eyes were adjusted to the light before speaking up, "How nice of you to finally wake up! We're truly sorry for your accommodations but I'm afraid we had nowhere else to keep you."

"W-Who are you?" the boy stuttered, but Kenji could tell he was trying to be brave. He had wrapped one arm around the girl, most likely his girlfriend.

"How rude of me not to introduce myself to our honored guests!" Ran strode forward, bowing apologetically, "Unfortunately, we do plan on letting you live, so you cannot know our names." Ran's gaze skipped over them as well – anyone who messed up and accidentally revealed themselves would earn them the ire of Ran's unforgiving and rather creative punishments.

Kenji didn't notice the boy's hidden smile.

"What – what do you w-want?" the girl asked, her hands interlocked together. She was shaking in terror.

"What do we want?" Kuroda tapped his chin thoughtfully, "Well, we want a lot of things. But from _you_, my dear little _kodomo-chan_, from you I want only a few things." Kuroda leaned forward, looming in front of the girl, whose gray eyes were widened in fear, "Don't worry, they won't be too difficult. I'm sure a bright young girl like you can give them to me."

The girl swallowed, the implications of his statement causing her to shake even more, the boy holding her tightly and staring at Kuroda with a mixture of disgust and horror.

"To _us_," Ran interjected smoothly, "Forgive him, my dear child, niichan has never learned the art of sharing." He also leaned front, pasting an warm, paternal smile on his face, "But you're not like nasty niichan, are you? You know how to share, don't you Aki-_chan_?"

The girl turned so pale that Kenji though she was going to pass out. The boy, on the other hand, looked like he was going to throw up, his face a nauseous shade of green.

Ran smiled, satisfied, and straightened up, motioning to Hikaru, who started forward, pulling out his gun. "Now, I'm sure we can all resolve this without resorting to violence, right?" he said brightly, "Now, I want both of you to get out of the box. It's a simple request, don't you agree?" As neither the girl nor the boy showed any sign of standing up, Ran's smile froze, "My dear children, I do not want to threaten you. But if you don't get out of the box, niichan over there _will_ shoot."

The two looked at each other for a brief moment before the girl shakily stood up, wincing as her legs protested. The boy caught her hand to help himself up, grimacing as he put weight on his left foot. Ran held out his hand for the girl to take. She ignored it, bracing a foot on the wall and trying to lever herself out, but soon gave up, accepting Ran's hand to help her out of the box.

"That wasn't so difficult, was it?" Ran said sweetly, kissing the back of her hand. The girl shuddered and pressed herself as far away from the psychotic man as she could. Ran looked at Kuroda, who shrugged, before hauling out the boy.

He landed on his left foot, and badly – Kenji could see the spasm of pain across his features as the boy fell back against the box, his mouth opened in a silent scream. Unfortunately for the boy, Ran noticed as well.

"You seem to be having some trouble," Ran noted, looking at the slumped figure of the boy as his chest rose and fell with harsh, staggering breaths, "Anything I can help you with?" Ran punctuated his question by stepping on the boy's ankle, tearing a scream from him as he crumpled to the floor.

The girl backed away, her hands over her mouth, looking horrified, before the barrel of Hikaru's gun stopped her. "There's no use getting away, girlie," Hikaru said roughly, "I'll shoot your boyfriend first, then it'll be your turn."

"I – I thought you weren't going to kill us," the girl said, managing to keep her sentence coherent as she looked at the boy, kneeling on the ground as Ran circled him – rather like a predator circling its wounded prey.

"Oh, shooting you isn't going to kill you," Hikaru grinned, pointing the gun at the boy, "For example, if I shoot his leg, and bandage it up, real quick, he won't die. He'll just be unable to move, well, depending on which leg I shoot him in." He moved the gun from one leg to another. "Shall I let you decide, girlie? Right or left?"

"We'd really rather not," Kuroda grinned, "Guns are illegal and we don't want to explain how our kidnapping victims magically incurred gunshot wounds."

Kenji felt like it was time for him to play his part in the sick, macabre games they played with their victims. "Come on, man, he isn't going anywhere. It'll just be a waste of a bullet. Besides, we can have some _fun_ with him too."

Kenji inwardly snickered at the girl's abrupt change from relieved to sickened.

Ran laughed, "Too right you are! That thought never occurred to me." He crouched down next to the boy, his gun in his hand, "Did that occur to _you_, Ichinose-_kun_?"

The boy lifted his head slightly to glare at Ran, "Go to _hell_, you psycho!"

In the flash of a second, his rightfoot connected with Ran's ankle, sending the man dangerously off balance. At the same time, the boy reached up, wrenching the gun from Ran's surprised grip. By the time Kenji's brain could process the sudden movement, the boy had completed the tumble and was shakily standing up, careful not to put any weight on his left ankle.

"Get your hands in the air," the boy said, his voice surprisingly calm for someone who had just been rolling on the ground in pain, "Get them in the air _now_ and don't reach for your guns or I'll shoot." He gave a twisted half-smile, "I don't care whether or not you're riddled with gunshot wounds by the time the police come."

"Do what he says, _now_!" Kenji turned, surprised, to see the girl pointing her gun at him, Hikaru moaning on the ground next to her. She no longer looked horrified, though she was still a little pale.

"You two," Ichinose motioned to Kenji and Kuroda, "Drop your guns on the floor or I'll shoot you. In the heart. _Twice_." Getting the message, Kenji slowly dropped his gun, sliding it over to the boy, while Kuroda did the same. He was still stunned at the completely unexpected turn of events, the fact that _this_ time, their _victims_ had been playing _them_.

"Aki," he murmured to the girl and she nodded, picking up one of the guns and handing it to him, before going deeper into the warehouse they were in. Kenji could hear her fumbling somewhere behind him. When the sounds stopped, Kenji frowned, perplexed.

_Just what was she – _the last thing he saw was the girl brandishing a metal bat with a very satisfied expression on her face.

* * *

"You looked way too happy when you were knocking them out," Ichinose said, holding an arm around Aki's shoulders as they sat outside the warehouse. Sirens flashed in the darkness of the new moon, shouting and dispatch heard intermittently as the police dragged out the unconscious kidnappers.

"And you looked undeniably hot holding that gun," Aki murmured from where she was using his shoulder as a pillow. Ichinose's heart skipped a beat, before beating frantically, thudding in his chest. Aki seemed to have realized what she just said and bolted upright, her blush evident even in the flashing light, "Um – I mean…uh…"

"We didn't break up properly," Ichinose informed her solemnly, not removing his hand from her shoulder.

"So?" Aki arched an eyebrow at him.

"So I'm starting to wish that we never will," Ichinose said blandly, observing Aki's reaction from the corner of his eyes. She blinked twice, looking dumbfounded, but a smile spread slowly across her face and she snuggled up to him again.

"That would be alright with me," she sighed contently, before leaning up to look at him, "On one condition."

"What's that?"

"You're going to have to make up for almost sorta breaking up with me, you bastard."

* * *

**le fin**

* * *

**a/n:** The starting line references the situation with the kidnappers. They're overconfident, they think they've planned it out perfectly – well they reasoned without the strategic mind of the magician of the soccer field and the stubbornness of his girlfriend. _Kodomo_ means child. And yes, Ichinose and Aki _had_ been listening and therefore knew all the kidnappers' names. [and this is rated M cuz ffn is currently going around and banning people for fucked up ratings. i decided to err on the side of caution]


End file.
